Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 10:13
AM
Subject: [RC] Born to Trot?
Article in this months Equus from a study done at Cal
Poly. Brings up the whole gaited issue again along with Arabians bred
to produce a faster trot. Very interesting.
"Cantering at a
speed of 15 miles per hour requires less energy than traveling the same
speed at the trot...."
"The average [metabolic] cost increase between
the regular trot and extended trot for Arabians was 32 percent...."
"...trotting at a high rate of speed is very challenging for any
kind of horse.....If you've got a long distance to travel in a short time,
trotting fast probably isn't the most efficient way to do it, even if you're
on a horse bred for it."
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I'm hoping this gets lots of replies, because, according
to my heart rate monitor, I would definitely disagree with this, especially
when doing long distance riding. But, since it's a new toy for me, I'm
counting on those of you who are the experts to challenge this one.
I've been assuming the extended trot is the way to go and that the canter is
what tires out your horse. With three of my guys I get numbers in the
130's in the canter and the low 100's during the extended trot. At
least that's what the heart monitor has been telling
me.
